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h n n e e t , . Ed Lallo/TimeLife Pictures/Getty The Cherokees were not the only indigenous people affected by the Indian Removal law and the decade of dispossession that followed. The Seminoles, living in Florida, were another group targeted for resettlement. For years, they had lived side by side with people of African ancestry, most of whom were escaped slaves or descendants of escaped slaves. Indeed, the Seminoles and Africans living with each other were not two distinct peoples. Their inclusion in this role play allows you to explore further causes for Indian removal, to see ways in which slavery was an important consideration motivating the U.S. government’s hoped-for final solution to the supposed Indian problem. The role play encourages you to explore these dynamics from the inside. As you portray individuals in some of the groups that shaped these historical episodes, the aim is for you to see not only what happened, but why it happened—and perhaps to wonder whether there were alternatives.

Procedure:

1. We will read “Indian Removal Role Play: Problems to Consider,” and view a map to get a sense of how far it is from Georgia and Florida to Oklahoma.

2. Each of you will be part of a group representing one of 5 roles:

a. Cherokees b. Andrew Jackson Administration c. Plantation Owners and Farmers d. Missionaries and Northern Reformers* e. Black Seminoles

*In previous years of teaching this role play, I did not include a “Missionaries and Northern Reformers” role. The omis- sion of a sympathetic white role left the class with the impression that all white people in the country were united in the quest to forcibly move Indian tribes and nations off their lands. In fact, white people as diverse as the abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison and the Tennessee frontiersman-turned-Congressman, Davy Crockettt, opposed the Indian removal bill. The vote in the U.S. House of Representatives in favor of removal was 102 to 97—an under- whelming majority. Nonetheless, it’s important that you recognize the racial and cultural biases of even those who considered themselves the Indians’ friends and allies.

All 5 groups are invited to a hearing to discuss the Indian Removal Bill before Congress. You should consider the resolution, and in your presentations should be sure to respond to three questions on the Role Play instruction sheet.

3. In groups, you should begin by reading your assigned role. As a group, please make a prioritized list of your concerns in 1830. This is especially valuable when it is time to share ideas, argue, and build alliances with other groups. Your group should discuss your ideas on the questions you will be addressing at the Congressional Hearing. Additionally, please label signs so that everyone can see who you represent. You are then to choose half your group to be traveling negotiators. These people will meet with people in the other groups to share ideas, argue, and build alliances. Your roles include different information, so this is an opportunity to teach each other.

4. We will begin the timed teaching/negotiating/alliance-building session. These discussions will last 10- 15 minutes per session. I will circulate to different groups, and occasionally butt in to raise questions or point out contradictions. To ensure maximum participation of students in the class, travelers may not meet with other travelers, but only with seated members of other groups.

5. You will return to your groups to prepare the presentations you will make at the Congressional Hearing. You are to have an outlined set of notes that you will create.

6. We will begin the hearing by allowing one group to make its complete presentation. I will then raise a few questions. After this, members of other groups may question or rebut points made by the presenting group. This process continues until we’ve heard from all the groups. The more cross-group dialogue that occurs, the more interesting and exciting the meeting.

7. Discussion Questions:

1. What reasons did some groups offer for why the Indians should be moved? What do you think were their real motives? 2. Why were the Seminoles such a threat to the southern plantation owners? 3. Do you think that all those Congressmen who voted against Indian removal did so because they cared about the Indians? Can you think of other reasons Congressmen from northern states wouldn’t want the southern states to expand onto Indian Territory? 4. Do you think the missionaries would have been as sympathetic toward the Seminoles as they were toward the Cherokees? Why or why not? 5. Do you see any similarities in the situations faced by the Cherokee and Seminole peoples and situations faced by any other groups in U.S. history? in our society today? in other parts of the world? HW – You will read the excerpt from the following secondary sources:

Ronald Takaki’s A Different Mirror (Boston: Little Brown, 1993) provides a good short summary of what happened to the Cherokee along what came to be called the Trail of Tears. ( p . 9 6 - 98) William Loren Katz’s Black Indians: A Hidden Heritage (New York: Atheneum, 1986) is a valuable resource for learning more about how the Seminoles were affected by the events depicted in the role play. (Chapter 4, “The Finest Looking People I Have Ever Seen”)

Indian Removal Role Play Problems to Consider

The year Is 1830. There is a bill before the Should all Indians living east of the Mississippi United States Congress that would provide funds River be moved, by force if necessary, west of the ($500,000) to move all Indians now living east of Mississippi River to Indian Territory? the Mississippi River to “Indian Territory” (Okla- homa) west of the Mississippi River. The Indians Questions for each group to consider in planning would be given permanent title to this land. The your presentation: money would pay the Indians for any improve- ments made on the land in the East where they’re 1. Do you support the Indian Removal Bill? now living. It would also cover the expenses of Why or why not? their transportation and for a year in their new 2. What questions do you have for members of homes in Indian Territory. the other groups that will be in attendance? The U.S. Congress has decided to hold hearings on this bill and you are invited to give 3. What will you do if Congress passes this bill? testimony and to question other individuals What will you do if Congress does not pass who will give testimony. The main question for this bill? discussion is:

Cherokee

Your people have lived for centuries new law forbids anyone with any Cherokee blood in the area the whites call “Georgia.” This is from testifying in court, or protesting the plans to your land. At times you’ve had to fight to keep it. move you out of your land. But you didn’t vote You’ve had a hard time with whites. Ever since for this Georgia government, and besides, you they began settling in Georgia they have continued have a treaty with the federal government that to push west, plowing the land, growing cotton says you are citizens of an independent country. and other crops. Long ago, as early as 1785, the When the U.S. government made a treaty with Cherokee Nation won the right to their land by you, that proved you are a nation. a treaty with the United States government. The The Cherokee are one of the five “civilized United States recognized the Cherokee people as tribes.” It was the whites themselves who taught part of an independent country and not subject to you much of this “civilization.” You have well- the laws of the United States. After the U.S. Consti- cultivated farms. By 1826, members of your tution was approved, the U.S. government signed Cherokee nation owned 22,000 cattle, 7,600 another treaty with the Cherokee—in 1791, when horses, 3,000 plows, 2,500 spinning wheels, 10 George Washington was president. Article Seven saw mills and 18 schools. Like southern whites, of the Hopewell treaty said, “The United States some of you also owned black slaves. In 1821, solemnly guaranty to the Cherokee nation all their Sequoya, a brilliant Cherokee Indian, invented lands not hereby ceded.” In other words, the U.S. an 85-character alphabet and now most Chero- government agreed not to push the Cherokee out kee can read and write. It’s said that more of the land where they were living. Cherokee people are literate than are whites in But now the U.S. government is about to Georgia. You even have a newspaper, the Chero- break its own treaty and steal your land. Many kee Phoenix. You’ve adopted a written Consti- whites have already bribed and tricked some of tution very similar to that of the United States. your people out of their land. The whites say they Many of your leaders attended white schools need it to grow cotton and other crops, and min- in the East. Even by the white man’s standards ers have been trespassing in the foothills looking you’re as “civilized” as they are, if not more for, and finding, gold. These whites say you have so. But still they want to kick you off your land no right to the land, that you’re savages. Last and move you to a place west of the Mississippi year, in December of 1829, the state of Georgia River—a place you’ve never even seen. You must passed a law saying that you are under their con- continue to argue your case if you are to survive trol, and must obey their laws, their wishes. This as a people.

Andrew Jackson Administration

You’re The president of the United States. land. Your main base of support was in the South, You must deal with a serious problem in the state especially from poor and medium-sized farmers. of Georgia. This past December, 1829, the state From your standpoint, you have to look after government said that all the land belonging to the welfare of the whole country. The main crop the Cherokee nation would from then on belong in the South is cotton—it is a crucial crop to the to Georgia. The Cherokee would have no title prosperity of the slave-owning South and to the to their land and anyone with Cherokee blood new cloth factories of the North. Cotton, grown wouldn’t even have the right to testify in court. with slave labor, brings in tremendous profits to The Georgians want the Cherokee moved, by slaveowners and you’re a slaveowner yourself, so force if necessary, west of the Mississippi River. you understand their concerns. There is excellent They support the Indian Removal Act, now land being taken up by the Cherokee, as well as before Congress. There is a place called “Okla- some of the other Indian tribes in the region: the homa” set aside for all the Indians in the East, Creeks, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Seminole— including the Cherokee. Personally, you agree though some of these have already moved west. that Georgia has a right to make whatever laws This land could be used to grow cotton for the they want, but the Cherokee have treaties signed world. The exports of cotton to England and by the U.S. government guaranteeing them their other countries are vital to the health of the land forever. Of course, you personally never economy. Cotton sent north is building up young signed any of those treaties. industries and you can see there is great potential You’re getting a lot of pressure on this one. for manufacturing in the North. On the one hand white missionaries and lots of The Seminole Indians who live in Florida northerners say that Georgia is violating Chero- represent a special problem. For years, they have kee rights. Cherokee supporters point out that taken in escaped slaves from southern planta- the Indians have done everything they can to tions. Sometimes, they’ve even raided plantations become like civilized white people: they invented in order to free slaves. They are a threat to the an alphabet, started a newspaper, wrote a constitu- whole plantation system in the South. A num- tion, started farms, and even wear white people’s ber of years ago, you ordered the U.S. military clothes. Many church groups supported your elec- to attack the Seminoles in Florida and had their tion in 1828, and you want their support when you farms burned. The proposed Indian Removal Act run for re-election in 1832. On the other hand, a would get rid of the Seminoles forever by mov- lot of farmers and plantation owners would like ing them to Indian Territory. The escaped slaves to get on that good Cherokee land. Recently, gold living with them would then be taken away from was discovered on Cherokee territory, and gold- them and sold. seekers are already starting to sneak onto their

Plantation Owners and Farmers

All I ask in this creation productive as it once was. You need new land Is a pretty little wife and a big plantation with soil that hasn’t been used to grow cotton for Way up yonder in the Cherokee Nation. years and years. As of now, the Cherokee are liv- ing on the land that rightfully belongs to the state That’s part of a song people like you sing of Georgia. The Georgia legislature recently voted as you wait for the Cherokee to be kicked out of to take over that land and divide it up so that Georgia. Then you and your family can move in. whites like you could move onto it. That’s a great Some of you are poor farmers. You live on law, but some people in Congress and around the the worst land in Georgia and other parts of the country want to stop you from taking this ter- South. The big plantation owners with all their ritory from the Cherokee. What’s the problem? cotton and slaves take up the best land and leave There is a place set aside for the Cherokee and you the scraps. You’ve heard that the Cherokee other Indians west of the Mississippi River. They land in Georgia is some of the most fertile land in belong with their own kind, right? Remember, the the country. Best yet, the government of Georgia whole country—no, the whole world—depends is having a lottery so that even poor farmers like on cotton. Your plantation and plantations like you will have an equal shot at getting good land. yours are what keep this country strong and One of the reasons you voted for Andy Jackson productive. for president is because you knew he was an But you have another big problem. In Florida, Indian fighter who beat the Creeks in a war and many escaped slaves live side by side with the then took their land away from them. That’s your Seminole Indians. Slaves throughout the South kind of president. The Cherokee are farmers too. know about this haven for runaways. In fact, They grow corn, wheat, and cotton. If you’re sometimes the Seminoles and escaped slaves raid lucky, you’ll be able to move onto land with the plantations, burn them down, and free the slaves. crops already planted and the farmhouse already You won’t stand for this. The Seminole commu- built. Others of you aren’t quite as poor; you have nities must be destroyed and the Indians shipped some land, and grow corn and raise hogs, but you, off to Indian Territory along with the Cherokee. too, would like to move onto better land. As for the escaped slaves who live with them, they And some of you are big plantation own- need to be recaptured and either returned to their ers, who grow cotton on your land and own rightful owners or put up for sale. There’s also many slaves. You live in Georgia near the coast. some good land in Florida that you might want The problem is that cotton exhausts the soil, so to move onto once the Seminoles are gone. that after a number of years, your land is not as

Missionaries and Northern Reformers

some of you are white Christian mis- good, as it brings Indians in closer contact with sionaries who live amongst the Cherokee people civilization. or once did. You are not plantation owners, gold You don’t know a single Cherokee who wants prospectors, bankers, or military people. You are to leave home and go west across the Mississippi simply individuals who want to preach the word River. As your resolution states, there is “an over- of God and do what’s right. You are of many dif- whelming torrent of national feeling in opposi- ferent Christian denominations. At great sacrifice, tion to removal.” And you ought to know: you you moved away from the comfort of civilization live with these people. You are reluctant to take to go live in much more difficult conditions. sides in political arguments, but you have to bear You believe that the Cherokee people have witness to what you see and hear. made great progress advancing toward civiliza- Those of you who live in the north have read tion. According to a resolution your missionary the writings of the missionaries who live amongst group recently passed, some Cherokee families the Cherokee. They don’t want to steal the Chero- have “risen to a level with the white people of kee land, so they have no reason to lie. Senator the United States ...” Most Cherokee now wear Theodore Frelinghuysen from New Jersey has spo- clothes like white people and have given up ken eloquently about the Cherokee situation. He their original Indian dress. Women wear decent calls the Cherokee “the first lords of the soil.” The gowns, that cover their bodies from neck to feet. senator puts himself in the Indians’ position and Before, the women had to do the hard work of asks, “If I use my land for hunting, may another tending the corn using hoes. Now, the men do take it because he needs it for agriculture?” the farming with plows. They are a much more It’s true that the richest Cherokee—about 10 industrious people, and own more property percent—own some black slaves. Some of you and better houses than in the past. Slowly some are abolitionists, who want all slavery to end, and are becoming Christians and—thankfully—are don’t approve of this. However, almost everyone forgetting their old Indian superstitions. As who ever traveled in Cherokee territory agrees that your resolution points out, “Ancient traditions the Cherokee do not treat their slaves as harshly are fading from memory, and can scarcely be as the whites treat theirs. Most slaves in Chero- collected ...” When the whites came upon the kee country have some rights, and individuals in Cherokee, the Indians were in a “purely savage families are almost never sold away from each state.” But this is no longer the case. Many Indi- other. But slavery is slavery, and some of you don’t ans and whites are beginning to intermix. This is approve of any slavery.

Black Seminoles

you are black and you are Indian, members of peacefully side by side. They know that their slaves the Seminole people in Florida. You are descended hear about these Seminole communities and want from enslaved Africans who ran away from British to run away to join them. The Seminole commu- plantations in Georgia over a hundred years ago nities are a kind of symbol of freedom to enslaved and came to settle with Indians who left their lands black people throughout the South. In the past, farther north. This was before the United States your people have attacked plantations and freed was even a country. You are a free person. Some the slaves on those plantations, and brought them of the black people who live in Seminole commu- to Florida to live with you and become Seminoles. nities ran away from slavery in the last few years. The whites also want to steal your land so they can Others were bought from white slaveowners by grow their cotton with slave labor. Seminoles. These people are still called slaves, but President Andrew Jackson is one of the biggest are not treated as slaves. They can marry anyone, slaveholders in Tennessee. Some years ago, when can’t be sold away from their families, can travel he was a general in the army, he ordered his troops where they want, have their own land, and carry to attack your people and destroy your farms and guns. But every year they must pay part of their homes. You know that in this debate about Indian crops to other Seminoles as a kind of tax. removal he is not on your side. The Indian Removal Act of 1830 is now being He also wants to move the other Indian considered by the U.S. Congress. It calls for all nations in the Southeast, especially the Cherokee. Indians east of the Mississippi River to be forced You don’t have much to do with the Cherokee. off their lands and moved to a place called “Indian You know that they own large numbers of black Territory” west of the Mississippi River. Full- slaves, though they say they treat them better than blooded Seminoles would be moved. But for you, do the white plantation owners. But if this law a black Seminole, they would make you a slave and passes, they will try to move them too. sell you in one of the Southern slave markets. You The United States government and the white would be forever separated from your community, plantation owners call the Seminoles “savages.” your friends, your family. You will never allow this But you have farms and raise horses, cattle, hogs, to happen. and chickens. And unlike white plantation owners, The white plantation owners in Georgia you know what freedom means. What is “civi- and throughout the South are threatened by the lized;” What is “savage”? Indians, free blacks, and escaped slaves living